24 November 2006
Soccerclips Music Archive
http://www.soccerclips.net/music.php
This is part of a wider site, Soccerclips, to which football (soccer) fans from all over the world can contribute video footage or wallpapers relating to their favourite club. It also features a lot of football-related commercials and even videos of supporters' groups (including some extreme hooligan-ish ones). The Music Archive is what interests me most.
The size and range of the content is incredible, but the site's design leaves a lot to be desired. It contains (at today's count) 2290 pieces of music available for streaming and for free downloading as MP3s. While the site meets my 'Free' criterion, beware! Some of the contributions may not meet the 'Legal'.
The main problem with this site is difficulty of access. The songs are spread across 77 pages at present, and the only way through it is to browse, page by page, with most recent additions listed first. There is no search facility. Therefore one needs to scroll through many listings - and descriptions aren't always very informative - page by page, in search of songs related to one's favourite club or national team.
Still, for those who have the patience it's a tremendous source of football songs and chants. What's that old quotation about defeating your enemy by singing his song? Here's the place to go to do all your background research into your enemies' songs!
16 November 2006
The Dubroom
http://www.dubroom.org/mp3/
How's this for a change of pace? Here's a fine site devoted to the art of dub reggae, with loads of mp3s and podcasts for free download. You'll be able to check out some works by new and established artists, from Jamaica and from elsewhere.
There are some classic tunes by dub reggae legends like Augustus Pablo, King Tubby and Sly and Robbie. You'll also enjoy some newer acts like the Basque Dub Foundation and Joseph Israel. Each page only covers two letters of the alphabet, so you need to click a lot. Nevertheless, great stuff!
How's this for a change of pace? Here's a fine site devoted to the art of dub reggae, with loads of mp3s and podcasts for free download. You'll be able to check out some works by new and established artists, from Jamaica and from elsewhere.
There are some classic tunes by dub reggae legends like Augustus Pablo, King Tubby and Sly and Robbie. You'll also enjoy some newer acts like the Basque Dub Foundation and Joseph Israel. Each page only covers two letters of the alphabet, so you need to click a lot. Nevertheless, great stuff!
08 November 2006
Fingertips Music
http://www.fingertipsmusic.com/
Fingertips Music calls itself 'The Intelligent Guide to Free and Legal Music', and this is a pretty fair description. Here you will find free MP3s from unsigned bands from North America, Britain, Europe and sometimes from Australasia. You'll also get a few heavyweights of the underground, like Wilco, Tom Waits and Yo La Tengo.
Fingertips has an A-Z Master List, usually three new tracks every week, and a podcast.
Well worth keeping your eyes and ears on this one.
07 November 2006
triple j free music: mp3 downloads
OK, I'll start our adventures with an Aussie site:
http://www.abc.net.au/triplej/listen/mp3s.htm
Triple J is Australia's national youth radio network, surprisingly still funded by the Australian government.
The download site features about half a dozen free songs at a time, with additions and subtractions every few weeks.
It's a great source of rock music on independent labels. There's a good amount of Australian content. In the past 12 months I have downloaded some excellent songs by local acts like Josh Pyke, Blue King Brown, Laura Imbruglia, Bertie Blackman and Darren Hanlon. You get some good overseas up-and-comers too, like The Cribs (UK).
Hurry, though, 'cos tracks don't stay up for very long!
Welcome!
Ever since I got that iPod for Christmas last year, I have been on an eternal quest for websites with free and legal music MP3 downloads.
There's a lot of good stuff out there, but it's easy to get bogged down in all the commercial pay-per-download sites. Adding the word 'free' to your Google search doesn't reduce the number of hits by too many!
This blog aims to highlight some of my preferred free MP3 download sites. I tend to focus on independently produced rock, folk and punk (and combinations of all three), but you're bound to find some music of interest to you on these sites as well.
I'll try to add a site each week.
Enjoy!
Andy.
